What’s wrong with the rail trail debate is what’s wrong with American democracy in 2022, Wallace Baine writes. Why isn’t “Maybe,” or “It’s Complicated,” or “This Is Not My Field,” or “Whatever, Dude” one of the answers to a profound question of how we live our lives, recreate and commute in Santa Cruz County?
Coastal Rail Trail
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Opinion: Vote no on Measure D
Measure D will hurt our community by permanently ending the rail + trail plan connecting Santa Cruz and Watsonville. Measure D undermines decades of public planning and hurts commuters, the environment and our future economy. That’s why numerous elected officials and more than 30 local organizations oppose Measure D. It deserves a no vote.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Opinion: Vote yes on Measure D
A trail-only option is the best, most realistic option for our Santa Cruz community. It will preserve our natural landscape, can be built now and doesn’t depend on imagined future funding. Measure D makes sense and is the logical way forward.
Posted inCoast Life
Santa Cruz City Council urges rejection of plans to stop freight service in county
Regional Transportation Commission officials have floated an idea to foreclose freight on the Santa Cruz and Felton lines to potentially make commuter rail more financially viable. Roaring Camp, however, says the RTC has promised to keep the lines open for freight, and not doing so could hurt its business. Though it would have no formal impact, the Santa Cruz City Council sided with Roaring Camp Tuesday.
Posted inEnvironment
‘The time is now’: Santa Cruzans call for transit equity, accessibility
On Friday, Equity Transit held a march and rally with nearly 100 attendees calling for increased and accessible transit options throughout Santa Cruz County. “Transit inequities affect lots of people in different camps, and we’re all affected by it,” organizer Michael Wool said. “It’s a very multifaceted problem, we have to come at it from many different angles.”
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Freight abandonment discussion on Felton line stirs passions at RTC; kibosh put on pro-rail ballot measure
The Regional Transportation Commission on Thursday heard hours of staff reports and public comments regarding the possible closure of the Felton line to freight in order to save up to $65 million in repair costs. No action was taken, but RTC staff said they would continue working with the line’s owner, Roaring Camp, on a solution to the issue.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Supervisors to study Greenway initiative before adopting it or placing it on the June ballot
The board of supervisors on Tuesday voted to study an initiative that, if passed, would change the county’s general plan away from using the Santa Cruz Branch Line for rail and toward a bike-and-pedestrian path. The measure, which county officials certified Monday, must either be placed on the June ballot or adopted without a countywide vote when the report is completed next month.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
How Santa Cruz’s rail-trail debate created a standoff with Roaring Camp
A Feb. 3 meeting of the Santa Cruz Regional Transportation Commission is likely to be heated. Why? Commissioners are slated to discuss foreclosing the Felton line for freight trains — which the line hasn’t been used for in years — as a way of moving a rail-trail plan forward. But the owners of the line, Roaring Camp Railroads, are against this idea and are rallying supporters to stop it.
Posted inLatest News
What’s railbanking, and why are Santa Cruz transit experts discussing it?
The Santa Cruz Regional Transportation Commission’s meeting Feb. 3 will include an informational agenda item dealing with “railbanking” and “adverse abandonment” of the Felton Line. What do these terms mean and how will they affect the future of transit and trails in the county?
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Greenway submits signatures for proposed initiative on use of rail line
The proposal, which still must have its signatures verified before qualifying for the June 2022 ballot, would potentially force county leaders to use the Santa Cruz Branch Line for a parklike bicycle and pedestrian path. This is in opposition to those who want a commuter rail line and trail combo.